Local Bands Cover Local Bands In This Breakthrough Compilation By Tired Records

Tired Records’ new compilation features rising local math-rock bands like cues and susurrus (Credit: Syukri / Courtesy of The Esplanade, Gina Teo [front] | Trang Dang [rear artwork])

If you’re reading this, then you’re likely aware of the scene’s plentitude of local bands plugging original music. It’s also not uncommon to find some of these artistes taking shots at covers of international releases. But how often do you find local acts doing covers of local songs? Rising to the challenge to bridge these two variables is fledgling homegrown DIY label, Tired Records, with their unique compilation, Pick of The Lot!

The cover art for Pick of The Lot! was designed by Trang Dang (Credit: @trangdrawsbangs)

An eight-track ensemble of tracks that is now streaming on Bandcamp – with a highly limited cassette run – Pick of The Lot! is a collaborative album that flips expectations. To accomplish this, Tired Records handpicked several local bands across genres and had them record rare covers of each other. The heterogeneous result is a hodgepodge of styles and dimensions, showcasing both the breadth of local alternative music and the creative interpretation of its participants.

The album even features hip-hop contributions from Mediocre Haircut Crew (Credit: Kelvillain)

Some highlights are rap outfit, Mediocre Haircut Crew, laying verses atop a Fauxe bossa nova-esque edit of an adapted sample from math-rock band, susurrus. Also in the equation are punk-charged remakes of shoegaze tracks (Xingfoo&Roy covering Cosmic Child), and fresh takes on emo numbers (cues covering Terrible People), just to name a few more. Like a box of chocolates, this round-up is full of unpredictable delights that demands multiple re-listens.

To provide even deeper context into the heart of this album, I caught some words from Dylan De Souza and Hadi Lee of Tired Records. They reveal the label’s motivations, how it came together, and the story behind Pick of The Lot!.

Tired Records released Like Clean Air, the debut LP of Terrible People in 2019 on cassette and vinyl (Credit: Tired Records Facebook page)

What does Tired Records represent in the music scene, and how does it distinguish itself from other labels?

Tired Records aims to represent young bands who have already formed and have got the music part figured out, but don't quite have the experience and marketing know-how to get themselves out there and noticed. Distinguishing ourselves from other labels has not really been a priority. We believe that there's enough space in the Singapore music scene for multiple labels to co-exist. We do find ourselves looking up to more experienced labels like Evening Chants, Power Silence Records and other tape labels, and we do sometimes find our work taking inspiration from some of the other labels in Singapore.

The label helped release the debut EP of Oddblood, Metabolism, on tape (Credit: Tired Records Facebook page)

How did Tired Records come together? 

We formed the label in early 2019. The two of us at that time were slightly bored and were probably experiencing what felt like a sluggish few months in the local emo scene. We’ve always been intrigued by the way the labels around us operated and had multiple conversations tinkering with the idea of starting a label. At the same time, we were discussing how we would've really appreciated some sort of guidance when we first began making music with our bands. These two issues, along with us wanting to explore music in other aspects, led us to forming a tape label to help new local bands whose music we enjoyed and saw potential in.

The first band we took up, Oddblood, had released a demo EP around December the previous year and we decided to approach them to see if they wanted to do a tape release with us. That's pretty much how we started. There were no big decisions and we did it mainly just because we enjoyed doing it.

Also featured on the compilation are Forests (Credit: Forests Facebook page)

Terrible People, affiliated with Tired Records, chimes in too (Credit: Joshua Loh)

And possibly the last recording for Cosmic Child in a long while (Credit: Christopher Sim)

Can you tell us the story behind the Pick of The Lot! album?

The idea of the compilation came around the middle of last year. Alif and Josh from Terrible People came up with the idea for a compilation of cover songs and decided to share it with us. We had an initial list of about 10 bands and they were mainly bands we really love and whose members were also our good friends. We honestly just thought it would be really fun to do something like this and yes, it was. We often talked a lot about what-ifs, and we realised we had the resources at our disposal to make that sort of pipe dream a reality, and started entertaining that idea.

The matching process was half-random and half-planned. Some of the band match-ups seemed inspiring to us. For example, we thought it would be pretty interesting to get Charm, a hardcore band, to cover a Mediocre Haircut Crew (rap/hip-hop) song. And for Cosmic Child (shoegaze) to cover the anthemic, energetic emo tunes of Forests. As for songs, we let the bands choose whichever song by the assigned artiste they wanted to reinterpret. There were no rules about anything else.

Pick of The Lot! is now streaming and available for purchase on Bandcamp. It is also available on cassette. To find out more about Tired Records, follow their Facebook page.